Regional commitment to peace in DRC

Southern African Development Community (SADC) executive secretary Elias Magosi at the virtual Extraordinary SADC Summit, 13 March 2025

I wish to extend our sincere gratitude to president Emmerson Mnangagwa for convening this summit to receive the report of the virtual extraordinary SADC organ troika summit of 6 March 2025 on the prevailing security and humanitarian situation in eastern DRC, as well as the review of the mandate of the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC). 

I would also like to offer our sincere gratitude to the government and people of Zimbabwe for their continued gracious hospitality.

The security situation in eastern DRC is worrisome and continues to be a concern for the region. The attacks by the M23 armed group against DRC government forces, SAMIDRC troops, and the civilian population, and the subsequent capture of various cities and towns in the area, have resulted in the loss of lives and injuries, leading to a sharp increase in internally displaced persons, forcing many people, particularly women, children, the elderly, and disabled, to flee their homes. 

The SADC strongly condemns the unwarranted attacks on innocent people by rebel groups and is resolute in standing in solidarity with our sister country to address the prevailing security challenges through the relevant SADC structures.

The situation is compounded by the blockade of main supply routes and the capture by the M23 armed group of both Goma International Airport and Kavumu Airport in Bukavu. An urgent diplomatic intervention is therefore needed to open these airports to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance and allow SADC and its structures to find an immediate and workable solution for our mission.

The invasion of DRC territory by M23 and their external supporters, along with the establishment of de facto authorities and illegitimate parallel administration in some parts of the country, are serious violations of international law and a clear and unapologetic defiance of both the Nairobi and Luanda peace processes. 

As a region, SADC stands for the protection and respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC. To this end, collective efforts are ongoing in line with the SADC Mutual Defence Pact of 2003 to protect the people of the region against instability arising from the conflict and address security challenges in accordance with international law.

The report of the extraordinary SADC organ troika summit consolidates the outcomes and recommendations of the following meetings: first, the extraordinary summit of heads of state and government held on 31 January 2025 in Harare, which directed defence chiefs to review the SAMIDRC mandate and report to the chair of the organ; second, a joint summit of the heads of state and government of the EAC and SADC on 8 February 2025 in Dar es Salaam, convened to provide direction on the required measures to pacify the volatile security situation in eastern DRC; third, an extraordinary meeting of the defence sub-committee of the organ troika plus SAMIDRC troop-contributing countries and DRC on 20 February 2025, held in Dar es Salaam to review the mandate of SAMIDRC; and fourth, a joint meeting of EAC-SADC chiefs of defence forces on 24 February 2025 in Dar es Salaam, where a securitisation plan for Goma and eastern DRC was developed.

In all meetings stated above, a recurring theme is that a lasting solution to peace in eastern DRC can only be achieved through inclusive diplomatic efforts and dialogue among all state and non-state parties to the conflict, both military and non-military. The region therefore fully supports the call for the reopening of diplomatic channels through existing frameworks of the Nairobi and Luanda peace processes. We trust that with our collective efforts, and through the support of the international community, efforts to return the DRC to normalcy will bear fruit.

The EAC-SADC engagement process must be protected and nurtured. It is probably the only structure in recent times that has brought some level of trust for both the DRC and Rwanda and hope to multiple stakeholders, namely the SADC and EAC regions, the African Union Peace and Security Council, the UN Security Council, and the international community. The two regional economic communities must therefore jealously guard this structure and ensure it does not become another failed process. We must do everything in our power, as SADC especially, to ensure this structure achieves its objectives and that it remains credible, trusted, and free from blemishes. Even as it interacts with both the Luanda and Nairobi processes and with the African Union structures, the EAC-SADC engagement process should be without reproach.

I wish to thank president Samia Hassan for successfully leading the virtual extraordinary summit of the organ troika plus SAMIDRC troop-contributing countries and the DRC on 6 March 2025.

With these remarks, allow me to invite president Emmerson Mnangagwa to address and officially open the extraordinary summit.

I thank you! Merci beaucoup! Muito obrigado! Asante sana! Tatenda! Siyabonga!